ISSUE 11 Ghetto Mirror ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org

GhettoMirrorReal life stories from slums

FREEDo no buy

Carelessness | parent’s careless upbring to blame for their children’s lifestyle

Irresponsible parenting to blame

From selling vegetables to being an MP.

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My hood:Baba Dogo slums.

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Tracks for clean ups unvailed.

Page 6.

Just as mysterious is the faces of the children in the picture above that only shows the legs of children of different age brackets is their character to thier parents. The careless upbringing of children by parents has made it very dif-ficult for parents to know the whereabouts of their children

Parental irresponsibility in the upbringing of children has ended up as a factor that shapes their children’s lifestyle. Most parents of the present tend to not be involved in what their children do when alone

By Benard Ochieng & George SakwaDo parents really know where their children sleep and even spend most

of their time? This is a question that some parents are not in a position to answer considering the fact that they spend less or no time with them.Eight young children (2 girls and 6 boys) within the ages of 8 to 12 were

found locked in a room at night in Gatwekera, Kibera in March, 2014. In most well-off families, children are only allowed to move out of

their parent’s house when they reach 18 to 30 years or even above that, a case which is not applicable to many scrambling families from humble backgrounds where children stop sleeping in their parents’ house at a tender age, as young as 8 years and above.This is an age that is not recommended by many parents. But who

is to carry the blame? Is it the parents or the children? Speaking to a 39 year old Mary Auma, a mother of four children, from Gatwekera

continued on page 3

A ray of hope for the elderly in the societyBy Godwin Oyindo & David Otieno

Elderly people living in Kibera and its environs now have something to smile about, La “Vie” Foundation situated at the Pentecostal Glorious international ministries just be-hind Raila Educational Centre seeks to address their griev-ances as well as accommodate them in pursuit of a better life. The foundation that was founded by Tom Oketch, a man in his mid

40s, in 2003 has 164 members (98 women and 66 men). Tom says that

he was driven by an urgent need to cater for the elderly in the society who had seemed forgotten. “What inspired me to start it was the lack of an organization around that dealt with the elderly, they used to come to churches to ask for food and clothing, some of them did not even have shelter and therefore sought refuge in churches,” Tom started.“These among other reasons gave me the motivation to start the or-

ganization, however, my main reason was to make our society better, a place where the elderly would feel respected and valued,” he added. The organization targets members who are aged 60 years and

above of both gender and aims at bringing them together, offer-

ing pieces of advice, organizing for visits to their homes, sharing cultural values among themselves, offering basic health care for them, sometimes cooking together and offer shelter improvement. This idea of bringing elderly people together and addressing their

plight became an issue after Tom noticed that in slum areas, the elderly were so very neglected without proper care from their family members or even friends, some went without food, basic medical care and other necessities this was fueled by their in abil-ity to engage in income earning activities and without having any

Conitue page 6

Photo: Bernard Ochieng’

Ghetto Mirror2

Designer: George Sakwa

Illustration: Dennis Mwanzia

Editor: David OtienoVincent OrejePhotography: David Otieno, Bernard Ochieng’ George Sakwa and Erick Ouma

Team: Kevin Ochieng, Adull Aziz, Cynthia Nyanchama, Johnson Abuto, Esther Moraa, Benard Ochieng, George Sakwa, Pamela Odera, Nicodemus Odalo Dennis Mwanzia, Erick Okwama and Godwin Oyindo

Technical Assistance:Emily Akoth, Albanous Gituru and Lilie Bullitt.

Quote of the month The best way to

predict the future is to invent it.

Allan Kay

TALKING POINT We welcome letters or topical issues on the stories we publish. Engage us by sending them to ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org. You can also drop them in our offices at Gatwekera near PAG church, Kibra or call 0703 129 808/0723 997175 visit:www.shininghopeforcommunities.org/ghettomirror

ISSUE :11

The alarming rate of insecurity

Insecurity

End supremacy battle for nation’s development

Budget estimates by the National Government

All the elected, appointed and nominated leaders should be held account-

able. This is a requirement of the Kenya’s constitution which was overwhelmingly voted for dur-ing the 2010 referendum. How-ever, some leaders have taken this provision for their own benefit which is not what Ke-nyans wanted when they voted to pass the current constitution.The constitution was voted for

overwhelmingly because it was to devolve government func-tions and funds to the locals; this had meant that recourses were brought closer to citizens meaning that they could easily access them as opposed to when they were all under the national government. But the way with which the county bosses; the governors, are dealt with by

The right to food is rec-ognized in the 1948 Universal Declara-

tion of Human Rights as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, and it is enshrined in the 1966 Interna-tional Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.The Kenyan constitution also

states that all Kenyans are en-title to food. It is therefore sad to get that some Kenyans go without food and even die of hunger as seen in Baringo County and in the northern parts of Kenya like Turkana. This should not happen when cor-rect measures are put in placeTherefore all Kenyans are

hopeful that with the 2014-2015 budget which is to be presented to Parliament in June

by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Hon. Henry Rotich should lower the cost of food and other basic commodities to made available to all citizens.

The cost of living

The cost of living has been on the rise with the Kenyan Shilling losing ground to the US Dollar, but the government is highly expected to put measures which will curb the cost of living to be affordable to its entire citizen. In the budget estimates to be

presented to Parliament by the Cabinet secretary, Kenyans hope that the Jubilee administration will put a smile on their face by tackling their major concerns and challenges, mostly reducing basic food commodities prices.

The government has however been trying to ensure that the lo-cal citizens’ problems are taken care of. With the introduction of free primary and secondary education and now free mater-nal care. Every Kenyan now has the capability of having access to basic education and health care which are all in the Mil-lennium development Goals

Debate on budget

The budget committee chaired by Hon. Mutava Musyimi will debate the budget estimates presented by the government before presenting their report to the whole house for further debate. They should therefore correct any mistakes made by the government and approve

what is right to all Kenyans. They should not align them-selves to their party affiliations to the interest of the local citi-zens, but instead should come in the defense of their employ-ers who are the electorates.

Everyone’s expectations

It is an expectation of every Kenyan that thorough work will be done by our representa-tives in Parliament. Therefore the final document which will be implemented by the gov-ernment should be one which will be to the benefit of all the citizens of Kenya but not only beneficial to a few. We are one nation and we should all work together to move ahead.

the Members of the County As-sembly MCAs has left many questions un-answered in the minds of Kenyan citizens. The electorates want their lead-

ers to achieve the promises made to them during the campaigns, but this is now being used by the Honorable members of county assemblies to their own benefit. The impeachments of gover-

nors like Hon. Martin Wam-bora of Embu has left gover-nors with fulfilling the MCAs demands at the expense of the electorates, his impeachment was effected by House of Sen-ate who are mandated to pass a governors impeachment after reviewing MCAs’ evidences. Governor Wambora though was reinstated after he successfully filed a case in the High Court to dismiss his impeachment.

The latest governor to be im-peached was Nairobi governor, Dr. Evans Kidero after his main competitor former Member of Parliament of Embakasi Hon. Ferdinand Waititu succeeded in appealing a case of massive election irregularities that saw Dr. Kidero win in the last elec-tion. This was after he failed in his first attempt to get the governor removed from office. MCAs should know that it is

the electorates who gave elect-ed leaders the mandate to lead and therefore should work for them since they will be held accountable after five years in office when they will be seek-ing to be re-elected back to of-fice for another five year term.The law for impeaching the

governors should be tightened just as that of impeaching the

president of the republic. But majorly, it should be vested on the citizens. They should be left to deliver to the citizens so that the living standards of the lo-cal residents may be improved.What the local citizen is agitat-

ing for is to see the prices of the basic commodities like flour and sugar among other things be af-fordable, basic services for ex-ample health care and education be available and affordable to all. Leaders should therefore sit

down and come up with a proper formula on how to work as per the expectations of the elector-ates, not fight for supremacy at the expense of their employ-ers who are the electorates.

A publication of Shining Hope for Communities

email: ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org

Art By Dennis Mwanzia #mwaahnzia FB//mwaahnzia

It is common knowledge that the terror attacks and other forms of insecurity did not begin spontaneously. The fight against insecurity must begin by tackling its root cause

perhaps by weeding out the hypocritical crooks in govern-ment who sell identification documents, while aggressively pursuing and punishing the brokers who negotiate the deals.Government’s move to stem out insecurity by carrying out

a crack down on families living in Eastleigh as a whole was a great move that met praise and disguise in equal measure. But what will happen to those caught should as well be same

dosage the big wigs should face; the later should be brought to book just as the small fishes caught will be. Even deporting those caught without national Identification cards would to some ex-tend help. But the same people might still get possession of the ID cards with the same people still holding government offices.Lots of lives have already been lost and families left hopeless and help-

less yet the insecurity of the nation is not only from terrorist but from families as well. It is hurting to still know that even in the 21st century domestic violence still exists. Rape cases are more than ever on the rise.The most vulnerable of these crimes are women and children who

know nothing about the crimes committed though some women and children are used in committing the crimes, there are those who rob people at gun point and still feel proud of what they do. Parents to such children could to some extend have been instrumental

to the kind of life they live. Not knowing the friends to their children and perhaps coming home drunk and doing what no parent would want their children to do, these among other things shape their lives.

Education is one of the rights enshrined in our new constitution. How-

ever things have not been that so cozy for some. In both primary and secondary schools candi-dates have to pay for the man-datory examination fee (KCPE and KCSE registration respec-tively) to sit the national exam. But due to the difficulties

eperienced in this tough eco-nomic times we are living in some have not been able pay ro raise the amount asked for by schools with the required time. These would be school leavers

often have to cut short their edu-cation just because they were not able to raise the examination fee. However good news is that be-

ginning next year those to sit for the exams will not be required to pay the exam fee after parlia-ment through a parliamentary committee in charge of educa-tion proposed that the govern-ment to bear the responsibility. Most of the candidates es-

pecially from humble back-grounds could or opt out of school because of just not paying the examination fee. This has serious consequences.

as those dropping out of school stay idle at home, whereas others loiter in streets with nothing to do or even have a place to go to. This idleness could lure them

into crime or other social ills affecting the society at large. However if the proposed bill is passed by the legislators then it would turn a new lease of life to school goers more so to candi-dates as they are the worst hit.Also put on notice are the

school heads who are notori-ous for withholding the results of their former class eight pupils or form four leavers as a ransom for the exmaina-tion fee they did not clear. This could hinder their chanc-

es when applying for jobs or choosing courses to study. Some of the students had passed but lacked necessary papers to prove their suitability. Those (school heads) who will be found will be prosecuted. So lets just hope the proposal will sail through so that our boys and girls, have a their piece of mind and continue with their education.

Kevin Ochieng’

Education for all

Pamela Odera

George Sakwa

Ghetto Mirror3 ISSUE :11

One on One.Q: Who is Simba Arati?

A: My full name is Paul Simba Arati, apart from being the Dagorreti North Constituency Member of Parlia-ment; I am the third born in a fam-ily of eight, born on November 28 1981 I am a husband and a father of two girls, aged 3 1/2 years old and 3 months old respectively. I am a holder of Diploma in Tourism Man-agement, Bachelors Degree in Busi-ness Administration and currently pursuing Masters Degree in the same.

Q:How was yourupbringing and school life?

A: I grew up in Kisii. In my life; I have had lots of controversies since class two…… (Smiles). I was very naughty and I remember at one point while in class five being sent away for asking questions that were perceived to be trivial by the teachers. I went through a number of primary schools and ultimately sat for my Kenya Cer-tificate of Primary Education KCPE at Nyamache Primary. My secondary education too was in Kisii and I re-member at one point being expelled from school for agitating for reforms in the school administration, but my fellow students’ support helped me resume school. I was the chairperson school’s journalism club’s chairper-son, a post that culminated in me be-ing at logger heads with the school administration most of the time. Q: How did you find yourself in Nairobi?

A: In 2000 after completing my Sec-ondary education my uncle helped me come to the city. I then rented a house in Riruta that was Ksh. 1200 monthly. This was when I started sell-ing vegetables (sukumawiki) to make money for rent and personal upkeep.

Q: For how long were you a vegetable vendor?

A.I sold vegetables (sukumawiki) for two years. Where I grew in fame in most markets in Nairobi; such as Mar-iakiti where I use to do the purchasing.

Q. What is the most memorable moment?

A. I would never forget the debt I incurred during the purchase of vegetables from Mariakiti; we used to buy goods in credit, during my campaigns I remember being asked to pay 2000 shillings from a credi-tor I had not paid. I had to pay.

Q. How did you join college then?

A. Well wishers; there was a wom-an at Yaya Center that I used to supply vegetables to she helped me a lot. I also applied for bursa-ries and added the savings I had made from selling vegetables.

Q. How was college?

A. It was difficult and in most cases I use to lie to my fellow students who met me as I ferry sacks of vegetable from Mariakiti Market. I therefore had to invent ways to avoid being identified by fellow students whenever I was transporting vegetables after pur-chase. However, this never barred me from vying for the College student leadership positions. I vied for the Secretary General post unfortunate-ly failed but managed to secure the chairman’s post in the next elections.

Q. What was next after college?

A. I sold vegetables for a while and also got a job with Happy Sa-faris but I left after two months. I

later on got a scholarship through a good Samaritan to pursue Bach-elors Degree in Business Adminis-tration in China. It is while in Chi-na that I also got my lovely wife.

Q. Where did you draw your inspiration in leadership and politics?

A. I lived with my uncle who was politically conscious he bol-stered my political inspiration and I also got inspired by lead-ers like Professor Anyang Nyon-go the current Kisumu Senator.

Q. Brief us of your political journey?

A. I got into politics in 2008 when I joined the Nairobi City Coun-cil as a nominated Councilor on an ODM ticket after an abortive at-tempt to vie for the post in the 2007 General Elections. In 2013, I vied for Dagorreti North Parliamentary seat on an ODM ticket and won.

Q. What can you tell people with similar challenges as you had?

A. I tell them never to say die and aim for the sky it is the limit.

Q. What is your political ambi-tion?

A. To change the country and even go for the top job (Presidency).

Q. What is your ultimate word to Kenyans?

A. We should not sit waiting for the government to create more jobs for us but we should do it ourselves. The life we are in is like an ecosystem where the fittest survives.

Parents should take good care of their childrenfrom page 1

village in Kibera slum, I realized that both parties bare the blame.‘’I had three boys and a girl

but one boy is no more. My first born who passed on five years ago started spending nights at his friend’s place when he was 19 years of age because we only had a single room that couldn’t accommodate the whole family,” Mary when asked about her children answered. “What he did during those

nights was not known to me un-til one night when I received a phone call from a close friend who saw my son being shot dead in cold blood by police officers and a rifle recovered from him,” she continued. “Before he met his death, he had

dropped out of school in form two claiming his class teacher hated him so much but when we asked him if he could instead join

another school, different one, he rejected,’’ explaining why her son met her death, Mary added.Just two years ago in Mukuru

Kwa Njenga slum in South B, there was a crackdown by the police officers and village youths to nab some boys who were in-volved in some criminal activi-ties. This had also happened in Kibera, in an operation that was conducted by the authorities in charge of security. But when they were nabbed, their parents firmly denied the allegations.‘‘I started spending nights at

a friend’s place when I was 11 years old. There was no enough sleeping space since I have six siblings. I decided to move over although I would spend more hours of the day at my parents place helping in house chore jobs,” Christine Akinyi, a 15 year old girl narrated.“During this period, I would

attend night clubs, smoke ciga-

rettes and bhang, drink alco-hol, chew khat (miraa) and go out with men older than me,” she continued. “We formed a group of 15 girls that I would engage myself with in those immoral acts especially dur-ing the night,” she added. “My parents never suspected

me but it never lasted for long because I got pregnant. The say clearly spoke out for itself-what you do in darkness shall one day see light- I have a son, 2 years old whom I am raising with the aid of my parents,’’ young Christine explained.In some African culture,

male children are not ex-pected to still spend nights at their father’s house whereas some in some they are not even expected in the kitchen. Sharing a room with fully

grown up children can as well propel them in engaging in early sex and other immoral acts like

drinking of alcohol and smok-ing. In a case where a father or a mother comes back home drunk and carrying a bottle of alco-hol and a packet of cigarettes, a child has no choice than to start consuming the same think-ing that its fun. Children who grow in an environment where they see their parents misbehave probably ends up like them.Parents are encouraged to plan

their families to prevent some things that are preventable. “It’s not right for parents to share same room at night with a child who is 12 years and above. At night, these children may won-der what might be happening with their parents,” explained Wahomes, a lady from Baba Dogo. “They can as well prac-tice what they see their par-ents doing at night with their friends. This is not right and will lead to early sexual prac-tices among them,” she added.

As they plan, they will manage their programs and will be sure of their children’s whereabouts. “I started going for bashes and discos at a tender age. I was lucky that I became pregnant when I was in college. Some girls become pregnant when they are still in primary school,” she said.Parents should as well check

the progress of their children in school. Some parents leave their children on the hands of the teachers, when they fail or drop out of school, they put the blame on the teachers not knowing that the failure is partly on them.The parents, who are drunkards,

should not drink or behave in ways that are not recommended in front of their children. Chil-dren normally believe that their parents are always right. They will therefore do whatever their parents do in front of them, in-cluding drinking alcohol, speak-ing vulgar languages among

other things. They should take care when within the house and with their children.Every parent and any adult per-

son are encouraged to be guard-ians to children. We should be role model to them and always show the right way, even disci-pline whenever they are wrong. We need to humiliate the be-havior of our grandparents of taking children as for the com-munity once they are borne and therefore being the responsibil-ity of the whole community.Parents are justified to give

good and healthy guidance to their children and should as well be a good role model to them. How you conduct your-self should really matter. This can be achieved through regu-lar interaction with them. Girl child should be treated with a lot of care because they are the major victims of immoral ac-tivities in most communities.

‘’ Your present circumstance don’t determine where you go, they merely determine where you start”. This quote by Nido Qubein manifests in the life of a 33 year old Hon. Paul Simba Arati, who rose from being a vegetable vendor to a Member of Parliament for Dagorreti North Constituency. Ghetto Mirror caught up with him at his Kileleshwa office.

Ghetto Mirror 4 ISSUE:11

Pic speak

A grenade canister recovered by police officers in Kibera in a ditch on April 26. The bomb was first seen by a resident who had then raised alarm and was then collected by the police to avdert danger. It is however not clear who had planted the grenade in the ditch. Photo: George Sakwa

Kids are often fond of content playing, the two year old kid is no different. He collected soil which no one knows what he wanted to do with.

It still remains his secret. Photo: Courtersy

Forward match! Scouts on a mission during their retreate at Kibra Academy in Karanja. The retreate was organised by Kenya Scouts associa-tion. Photo: Erick Ouma

Call it passion or love of what you do, this kid practising photography using a camera made of clay and mud could just be the next best pho-tographer in the nation. Photo: coutersy

Help me pass| children helping each other cross a stream in Maranatha. The stream that serves as a dumping site to the locals doubles up as an inlet of Nairobi River. Photo: David Otieno

Joseph Michiya alias Michigan was the winner of the Kounkuey Design Initiative drawing compe-tition after having drawn an illustration of an informal settlement. Photo: David Otieno

It appears also that even fries were to migrate from analogue to digital as the name to this shop in Gatwikira just a few metres from Kamkunji grounds in Kibera suggests. Photo: Bernard Ochieng

A Foton (AUMAN ETX) truck one of the two trucks anveild by the Kibra MP to aid in garbbage collection during community clean ups in Kibra constitu-ency by locals. The trucks are with the county council and will be readily available on request. Photo: David Otieno

Ghetto Mirror 5

In this column, the Ghetto Mirror brings you details about the various ghettos of Nairobi, one at a time. This month, we covered Baba Dogo a slum just infront of Statehouse Nairobi. If you want Ghetto Mirror to cover your hood, email us through ghettomirror@shininghopeforcommunities.org

ISSUE: 11

My Hood.

Boda boda riders in Baba Dogo waiting for customers, despite being a slum surrounded by close to 10 manufac-turing companies the slum main economic activy among the residents is the boda boda.

By Johnson Abuto, Geogre Sakwa &

David Otieno

Babadogo slum is the fifth larg-est informal settlement in Nairo-bi, after Kibera, Mathare Valley, Kororgocho and Mukuru Kwa Njenga. It is located in Kasa-rani division in the eastern part of Nairobi approximately 8KM from the central business dis-trict and is one of the five slums bordering Dandora; it is located in the western part of Dandora. It has several villages amongst

include, Kariadudu, Kasabuni, Riverside and Laundry. Babado-go houses over 25000 residents and like any other informal settlements lacks basic com-

modities; access to minimum services, proper housing and medical care, few government schools for children in the area to get proper education. They as well lack proper sanitation and wastes management, poor drainage and poor roads mak-ing the area a bit hard to access especially during rainy times.Unemployment rates are high

in Babadogo despite being sur-rounded by close to ten differ-ent factories majority of the unemployed are youth who lack the necessary skills and education for formal employ-ment, with the inaccessible road network. To do away with unemployment issue amongst them, most youths in Babado-go have resorted in boda boda business, (riding motor cycle)

Evans Oyugi the current chairman of the Baba Dogo shading light on the reasons why the youths decided to ride motorcycles to make money he said, ”Many youths are working as boda boda opera-tors because of the need for urgent money.” The chairman also said that the youths were only able to acquire the bikes through loans from different organizations within the slum.According chairman of the

boda boda operators in Baba Dogo insecurity is their great-est challenge, women are the mostly used in carrying out the operation. ”They will come in the name of getting services , yet that is not the case, these women coordinates with other men, and when they approach

you to take them to a particular place , you will assume that they are genuine and innocent, when you get there you will be or-dered to leave the motorbike or even kill you” explained Evans.According, to the boda boda

operators, Female criminal behavior has been commonly perceived as a less serious prob-lem than male criminal behav-ior which has only turned out to be working against them. Historically, women have been

more likely to commit minor of-fenses and have made up only a small proportion of the offender population. Although women re-main a relatively small number of all prisoners, these facts have concealed a trend in the rising percentage of female offenders. In one voice the boda boda op-

erators blame their Member of Parliament for negligence. They

say that he has done very little to solve insecurity issue as well as health problem, Baba Dogo has only got two medical cen-ters the Baba Dogo health cen-ter and Tumaini clinic that is a private clinic, the two help the residents with basic health prob-lem. They are now requesting their MP to work hard in bring-ing the security back to normal and to solve the health problem.Poor living standards have led

to high rate of school dropouts and early teenage pregnancies among school girls. “Girls here get pregnant immediately after seating for Kenya Certificate of primary Education (KCPE), their parents cannot give basic education to them due to finan-cial status hence girls enjoy a lot of disco in the villages,” lamented a lady that only iden-tified herself as Wamoshie.

She is a single mother of one kid, she as well added that with the high cases of rape in the area many young ladies end up pregnant before they intended to do so and none of the perpe-trators have ever been caught. “None of these perpetrates have been brought into book to face the charges,” Wamoshie said. Having been in college at the time she conceived her first born, the kid she has now Wa-moshie explained to us what the single mothers go through raising their children, “I was lucky because my parents ac-cepted me and even gave me moral support but most parents here reject their girls making the life miserable to most of them.”

By Erick Ouma

Kenya Scouts Association in collaboration with Africa Regional Office earlier on in March organized a grand scout retreat at Kibra Academy to mark the annual scouts re-treat with participants being students from Lang’ata, Up-per Hill, South C and Karen. “In every year of March

the Kenya Scouts Associa-tion do conduct and plan for this kind of retreat,” said Jack Otieno a scout’s trainer dur-ing the event. “Through the retreat, many pupils and stu-dents learn and know more on capacity building, knowledge impacting in scouting and as well as engaging on environ-mental conservation,” he added.

Ministry in support

The ministry of Education has welcomed scouting activities and has agreed to support their activities in schools. There are scouting clubs in schools as long as the school administra-tion has recognized the im-pact it will have to the school and to the community at large. It is of value to the scouts as

they have taken the initiative of coming up with their train-ing schedule to help them train only that the follow ups of as-signed activities will be checked prior to the deadline of which the assignment was issued.

Enviromental conversation

“Different schools with scout clubs have majorly dealt with the main objective of scout-ing, which are conserving the environment and maintaining discipline amongst them,” Jack said. Environmental conserva-

tion has been made possible by focusing on tree planting. “It is the role of each and every

scout in schools and every insti-tution to plant at least 100 trees within a period of one month and proper follow ups are put to see whether the activity has been done by the scout leader from higher offices,” he added. The effects of globalization

like soil erosion, weathering, depletion of Ozone layer and mass wasting will be in high per-centage. These effects can how-ever be controlled by planting many trees and the scouts have taken priority and taken task of seeing this come into practice.

Facing Challenges

The Kenya Scouts face chal-lenges like coming up with the most successive task, lack of important attires, training equipments, scout uniforms and

transportation cost when con-ducting a field work. During field work, they also need to put up tents which also incur costs.The government of Kenya un-

der the Ministry of Education has assisted the Kenya scouts by supporting them with the scout-ing syllabus books, uniforms and major training materials. They also allow the learning institu-tions to be used by the scouts.

Lack of numbers

The number of schools which are participating in the scout retreat is still not as per the ex-pectation of the Association. The Association has therefore approached other schools which are not yet members of the as-sociation, and the schools have shown positive response to join-ing the association and having scouting clubs in their schools.

Scouts on a retreat

Photo: David Otieno

Johanna Justin Jinich Clinic

Boda boda operators waiting for customers at the bus stop, boda boda is the major income earner of the resi-dents in Baba Dogo.

HIV/AIDS compre-hensive care Malnutrition program GBV response center.

Pre and antenal care Child immunization Primary health care Preventative care

Our Services:

Ghetto Mirror 6 ISSUE: 11

Societyfrom page 1

investments to depend on.La “Vie” Foundation has de-

pended so much from volun-teers who are mainly univer-sity students, who render their services to improve the lives of these needy people, it has also depended so much on well-wishers who at times drop basic commodities like food stuffs, clothes and some money to cater for them. The volunteers togeth-er with the help of Tom organize for all the activities; they su-pervise them as they talk all the statistics for their growth and all the details per client they handle.The organization has made nu-

merous steps as we found out from beneficiaries, “I spend time with my peers here, I am happy this organization values us and is not tribalistic, most of my needs have been catered for by this or-ganization and I feel so proud of it and can only encourage people to support us,” explained Anna Wanja Kariuki, an octogenarian. “I live in Mashimoni, before

I became a member here I felt so lonely at home with only my three young granddaughters

to attend to me, but when they were in school it became so lonely for me,” she continued.The idea is so far received well

with the community around as the number continues to in-crease.” My plan now is to in-volve the whole community at different level because we need their help, I plan to engage the Foundation in entrepreneurship activities, plan to start two cen-ters at upcountry and I really encourage the Kibera commu-nity to bring the elderly people here so that they can enjoy our services, well wishers are also encouraged to come and support us, the elderly are a very impor-tant segment of our community and we need them as much as they need us,” narrated Tom.The Foundation is experiencing

some challenges such as; lack of enough personnel to take care of the increasing number, the cli-ents fall sick so often, then there is lack of enough finances as the little they get from well-wishers is inconsistent and too little to cater for the needs of their cli-ents. So far they have made numerous steps as they have a bigger number who have really gained in services they offer.

Trucks for clean up unveild

Hon. Kenneth Okoth, the Member of Parliament for Ki-bra constituency testing one of the two trucks unveild on March 20 at D.C grounds in Kibra. The trucks are to help carry out the community clean ups carried out mostly by youths in Kibera. Photo by: David Otieno

By David Otieno

Local organizations and youth groups within Kibra and Lang’ata constituencies who normally carry community clean ups within their neighborhoods can now have every reason to smile after receiving 2 new trucks from the county government through the Kibra CDF office. Speaking during the launch

of the newly availed trucks

on March 20 at Kibera DC ground in Kibra constituency the area Member of Parlia-ment, Hon. Kenneth Okoth said that the 2 trucks were to boost garbage collection programme within the area.He urged the local organiza-

tions and youths groups that normally do clean ups within the constituency to continue as it helps to observe the health standards. Hon. Okoth assured the residents that his office will

work with any group or organi-zation within the locality to en-sure that the Kibra is kept clean.

“I urge any group within the constituency to make use of the availed trucks since the requisition is made free of charge.”

Said Hon. Okoth. The Constituency Develop-

ment Fund committee members present lauded the initiative and asked the MP to continue working with the county gov-ernment in ensuring that the environment within the two constituencies is tidy always. In reference to the plan of ex-

panding the roads within the slum, the MP urged the residents with shops and houses by road-sides to kindly cooperate with the authority when asked to ex-pand the roads within the slum. “I plead with the residents to

cooperate when asked upon to move a little bit far from the roads to pave way for road ex-pansion,” he urged. His senti-ments were echoed by sev-eral leaders present during the launch of the trucks. They said that when the people give easy time to the authority in charge to road expansion, the roads within the slums would be eas-ily accessible to the trucks and would help much in case there is a fire outbreaks and any oth-er accident that might occur. Any youth group wish-

ing to acquire the services of the trucks are merely asked to write a formal letter to the MPs office or lias with their county ward representatives a week before they carry out the garbage collection process. “We are very grateful to the

CDF office and the Nairobi county council for availing this truck to make this event a suc-cess,” Enoch Omondi the chair-man of GYFF youth group said during their groups clean up at Laini Saba village in Kibera Constituency on April 26 after testing the fruits of the trucks. It had eased them in finishing the work as they were able to clean up a large area unlike previously when they didn’t have the truck.

Hope for elders in the society

By Mirror reporterThere is a new hope for job

seekers living in Kibra constitu-ency as the office of the MP decided to come to their aid. The area MP Hon. Keneth

Okoth through the office has come up with a plan to use the office as a centre where resi-dents drop their carriculum vi-tae (CV) that would be used to refer them to suitable jobs according to the qualifications as described on their CVs.

“We call upon everyone look-ing for a job to drop their CVs here and we will be able to use the CVs to determine their qualification and refer them to the jobs that best suits their qualifications,”Vincent Ayako visitors attendant in the Ki-bra Constituency development fund office said. He added that this was an initiative run by the MP for residents of Kibra.Companies are also asked to

advertise for their jobs here.

Job seekers now have new hope

By Godwin Oyindo

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) donated three 10,00litres water tanks to Kibra constitu-ency through the area MP Hon. Kenneth Okoth. Out of the 15 applicants to benefit from this donation, three were success-ful and they included Makina Market, Lindi Mosque and Vi-sion Youth Group from Line Saba. The criteria for selection were; most needy, the most ac-tive and regional balance as the three groups come from across the Kibra constituency. Witness-ing the handing over ceremony, Area MP Hon. Kenneth Okoth encouraged the lucky groups to put the tanks into good use, “we are giving these tanks so as to boost the hygiene of area residents, increase accessibility to water and increase income generating activities, put it to good use for the benefit of all of us,“ the MP pled. The KCB also promised to donate other tanks in future so as to uplift the liv-ing standards of area residents.A visit to one of the beneficia-ries revealed the need for the tank, In Makina Market it has been expensive to run the Toi-

let block that serves the traders since there has been problem with storage of water for clean-ing therefore it becomes expen-sive and cumbersome to fetch water from outside. “ First of all I thank KCB for this dona-tion, then to area MP for think-ing about as, This tank is going to help us a lot in terms of hy-giene , saving on expenses and

it will act as one of the income generating activity for this asso-ciation of Makina market Trad-ers,” narrated Juliana Kavila secretary of Makina market. This was a noble idea that was received well by area residents who sent out their pleas to MP to reach out to other Organiza-tions and companies for such goodies that better their lives.

Hon. Kenneth Okoth with Makina market leaders on 8 May during the giving out of water tanks to the villages of Kibra.

Photo: David Otieno

Ghetto Mirror 7ISSUE: 11

HealthChildren with ear problem given access to medical care

Doctor Benard Kanyakisa of SHOFCO’s Johanna Justin Jinich Clinic giving medical assitance to a child with ear problems dur-ing the medical camp at Kamkunji grounds in Kibera to help those with ear & eye problems in patnership With Starkey Organisation.

By George Sakwa & Pamela Odera

Shining Hope for Commu-nities (SHOFCO) and Star-key organizations organized a medical camp to treat residents with ear problem on March 27. They two organizations had partnered to offer treat-ment to those with specialized needs which are currently not catered for in the health cen-ters accessible to the residents.Every citizen is entitled to

good and affordable health care. This was one of the Millen-nium Development Goals that the Kenyan government signed in September 2000 along other nations during the United Na-tions Millennium Declaration summit in New York, to put into practice. The goals of the sum-mit were reduction of extreme poverty, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing uni-versal primary education by 2015. The Kenyan government as others has helped facilitate various health care programs

in bid to achieving the goals.“The government should pro-

vide for its citizens, mostly on the basic needs like education, health and ensure that there is food security,” said a Baba Dogo Resident who only identi-fied herself as Wahomes. “How-ever, it should be helped on one way or the other by those who are able to do so,” she added acknowledging the steps taken by the government in a de-veloping economy like ours.But in a quick rejoinder, the sec-

retary general of the nurses union

in Kenya, Seth Panyako thinksThat if the Abuja Declara-

tion signed by all the African Union governments in 2000 that was in line with the Mil-lennium Development Goals, implemented the govern-ment would move steps ahead.“The government should adopt

and implement fully the Abuja Declaration of the year 2000 which wanted all the govern-ments to allocate 15% of its na-tional budget to the health sector. This will cater for everything in the health sector including hir-ing of health officers, buying of modern equipments among other things,” said Mr. Panyako.Many non-governmental or-

ganizations (NGOs), govern-mental organizations and local churches have been organizing free medical camps to reach out to the less fortunate in the community, some are also of-fering free medication to the residents, the organizations in return have been overwhelm-ingly welcomed by the com-munities they are operating in. “This is just a start. We shall

offer treatment to those with ear problem in our society,” said Albanous Gituru, the county director of SHOFCO. “We are also planning to reach to other informal settlements,” he added. The government has been how-

ever trying much to offer af-fordable medical services to its citizens. During its first year in office, the Jubilee government moved to offer free maternal health care in all the public hospitals. This has faced sev-eral challenges since there are no enough public hospitals to serve all the citizens and the hospitals are also under-staffed.Most informal settlements only

have one government health fa-cility with others having none. In Baba Dogo, there is the

Baba Dogo health centre which only offers general medication while Kibera has one at the District Commissioner’s head-quarters (DC) which also of-fers general medication. Sego slum has no health facility and therefore look for treatment out of the slum, some therefore still opt for private hospitals.Most of the public hospitals

and the private hospitals acces-sible to most people, only offer general treatment. It is therefore still a challenge to most people who need specialized care and treatment as the local health cen-ters do not offer these services.“I have ear problem, I am par-

tially deaf. My mother cannot afford to pay for my treatment,” said Belinda Achieng, a resident of Kibera who is suffering from ear problem. “I have only been depending on Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) for treatment though they only do it rarely,” she added.Organizations have come up

to the task to assist the govern-ment in ensuring that citizens have access to medical care. AMREF, SHOFCO, Starkey, ELCK and some churches are offering free medical camps though they are not frequent.“When one needs special-

ized treatment for example eye treatment, surgery among other things, you have to go to Kenyatta National hospitals or established district hospitals,” laments Wahomes, a lady from Baba Dogo. “In case of emer-gency during the night, one has to suffer since transport and insecurity are also problems.The organizations are urged to

at least make the medical camps on a frequent basis so that they can care for any emerging cases. This will also help them detect at an early stage of these problems and therefore offer permanent treatment and even prevention.A clinical officer at Baba Dogo

health centre who sought ano-nymity said that they normally refer serious cases or those that they cannot handle to ‘big’ health facilities with the relevant equipments. “Some serious cases we cannot handle, we therefore refer them to Kenyatta or Nairo-bi Hospital among others which are well equipped,” she said.Depending on free medical

camps for treatment is not the best solution because one is not certain that they will be there in the first place. Martin Otieno has eye problem but cannot afford his treatment. “I am waiting for the free medical camp at Olympic that will be held on April 28 by the ELCK and the Lutheran church,” said Martin. “But my worry is that the attendance might be over-whelming and therefore I may not get the best medication since they will be rushing to at-tend to everybody,” he added.Residents are though, urged to

take medical covers from in-surance firms and companies. This will help them whenever they need medication as the costs incurred will be catered for by the insurance firms.The national government and

the county governments should therefore ensure that the special-ized medications like ear and eye treatments are affordable to ev-ery citizen to avert any cause for alarm among its citizens. NGOs should also organize medi-cal camps on a frequent basis.

Business

By Erick Ouma

Shadrack Opiyo, from Vihiga County has been making ends meet from his weaving art at Soweto west in village Kibera. His innovations has been pro-viding for him since he reached his adulthood. “I started weav-ing back in the 80s,” Shadrack started the narration of how he became a weaver. “I met a friend, Mr. Experito who taught me on how to make qual-ity products which could attract the best market,” he added.Mr. Opiyo mostly weaves lamp shades, wall mats, sealing cov-ers, cages and buckets all made from either nappier grass or bamboo reeds. All the goods he makes are on high demands as it appears that they meet the needs of his customers in addi-tion they are of an affordable price. “One needs to meet the needs of his/her market to make a profit. That is what I am aim-ing at,” Shadrack explained.His products have been hitting the local markets mostly within Kibera, Karen, Ngong’, Le-

nana and Embakasi. Shadrack attributes this achievement to Mr. Experito, his mentor; he’d introduced him to the business and taught him how to make the best out his materials. “I cannot stay for long with my products,

they are always on high demand this encourages me to in making more,” smiling Shadrack said.A sealing cover, ranges be-tween Ksh. 1600 to ksh.1800 depending on the material he used; either the bamboo

rids which is more expensive than those made of nappier grass. Most of his clients pre-fer the products made from the nappier grass as they look impressive and of good qual-ity and are also pocket friendly.

Shadrack tough stays in Kabiria village of Satelite works at his workshop in Soweto. “It is very difficult and expensive to travel from satellite to this place dai-ly,” talking of some challenges he meets in reaching his work place, he said. “But I opted to put my station here because of the availability of space which I utilize freely from frustra-tions from anyone,” he added. His creative work has shocked many; passers-by, business people and the local residents as he only uses the readily avail-able materials like nappier grass which is of nature to weave the quality of goods that he sells.“My challenge is that I have less time to work, I have to go and look for the materials for work and this takes most of my time,” Shadrack narrated. “Fixing my schedule of work has been hard and busy for me as this takes my time to go and look for the materials which are needed for a specific product and without having a proper plan for these, then things will not work for me as I intend,” he explained.To ensure Shadrack dedicates whole of his time in his work. He

Shadrack Opiyo during one of his work days preparing a napier grass reeds in the Soweto Academy field in Soweto West.The reeds are used for weaving chicken cages (above), wall matts sealing covers and buckets among others. Photo: Erick Ouma

A farmer defying all odds to make ends meetmay take up to a week to com-plete one item but this is the lon-gest time he takes with one item. “Any work done is not only de-termined by how much one gets but how you treat your clients while offering the services,” he said. “I can manage to meet and serve more than 15 clients in a week of which half are served perfectly and the remaining served as per the agreed terms. This has enabled me to main-tain and increase my clients and revenue,” Shadrack added. “I would like to have a better place than this as it will help me serve more than the in-tended number of clients. One of my expectations is to come up with a show room to display the finished products as this will increase the number of clients that I serve at the moment and reach out in the industry of art with what I am doing at the mo-ment.” Ambitious Shadrack said.Apart from weaving, he is also a mentor who has already taught and employed six people to help him at the workshop in weav-ing and as well mentoring oth-ers willing to learn the skill.

Photo: David Otieno

Ghetto Mirror 8 ISSUE: 11

The Ghetto Mirror, is a monthly newspaper published and distributed for free by Shining Hope for Communities as part of its programs aimed at empowering the youth through developing their media skills and also to bring atten-tion to issues affecting the residents of the informal settlements. All the work that goes into production of this news-paper is done by youths from the slums. Correspondence should be addressed to ghettomirrornews. You can also vis-it our facebook page: www.facebook for constant news updates, photos and video. News and advertisement: 0723 997 175

GhettoMirror

By Vincent Oreje

With many challenges it can be abeyance but Omar Kasongo Sports Academy (OKSA) box-ing club kept on their train-ing hoping to one day ride the country’s flag of champion-ship in national and interna-tional boxing competitions.After several struggles OKSA

though lacked financial support, from any cooperate organiza-tion the CEO; Omar Kasongo a former Commonwealth Games and African heavy weight and all African games cham-pion could hope his students would do better as days go. “I could not ignore what put me

to this level going without bring-ing other talented guys from slum to see the great light of boxing,” said the former boxer. Kasongo flew the Kenyan

flag high in 1994 winning a gold medal in Johannesburg, South Africa during the Afri-can Championship. Kenya had only two entries in boxing, Omar Kasongo in heavyweight where he won gold and Abdul-rahaman Ramadhan who won silver in the light flyweight category. And looking back at the achievements of 1994 Ka-songo said, “I believe the boys we get out there have an inter-nal influence in what we do.” Kasongo’s words did not go in

vain as the boxers he train mar-veled at the Nairobi County inter-mediate boxing competition and are among those who represent-ed Nairobi County in the Nation-al intermediate championship. Earlier this year OKSA had

been represented by five box-ers in National intermediate Championship. Chrispin Mu-rimi who had beaten his oppo-nent with a knock out in the sec-ond round of their match won a direct ticket to the National Intermediate Championship.After the match Murimi could

deny feeling proud and happy. “Am extremely happy to pursuit target and I thank God and be-

lieve I will make it to the Na-tional representative,” he said.Others who won the ticket

to the National Intermedi-ate Championship were: Isaac ochieng of Bantam, Moham-med Hussein of light flyweight and Washington Wandera. Duncan Ochanda another

boxer who though had lost had wished his opponent the best in the nation competitions. “To me it was a pyrrhic victory for him but I hope he will lift the

county name up,” said Duncan.OKSA has maintained their

training and gets ready for the national games one of which will be Mombasa champion-ship. “We are training very hard ahead of all games in front of us this month including the Mom-basa championship where at most three of our players will attend,” said OKSA’s Coach Mr. Salim. “Although we lack enough training facilities, we are optimistic to see the team play-

ing bigger leagues,” he added.The thriving OKSA club re-

cently got their sponsorship from Sports-pesa and Grandpa records which they believe most lifts them high in terms ohf transportation and lunch during the games. “We are happy to be supported by Sports-pesa and Grandpa because without them we are likely to go as down as doing nothing. They support our food, transportation and award-ing the players,” Kasongo said.

These boxers do not have their basic income from boxing mak-ing it a challenge for them to avail themselves all the time on training and games since some have families to take care of. “Right now we have nothing

aquiline to pay the boxers in a specific manner but they get something in case of a game. We need more sponsors that can help these enthusiastic players to at least earn some-thing on may be a monthly ba-sis or else.” Kasongo added.Omar Kasongo also plans to

add ladies section to avoid gen-der biases in his team and to act as a way of uplifting the ladies who have the same passion. “There are many other ladies who like this game and we are looking forward if we can have them in our team.” He added.

Chrispin Murimi of OKSA (black) challenging Bernard Otieno of St. John in a match that Chrispin Murimi won after knocking out his challenger in the second round of the fight.

OKSA: .Its CEO is a for-mer Kenyan inter-national Boxer

.During his time he represented Kenya in Com-monwealth games and the All African Games of 1994 in which he lift the Kenyan flag win-ning a gold medal.

.They lack a coo-prate sponsor

Boxing Club aiming at conquering the nation

Bouts: OKSA boxing club is trained by Kenya’s former international champion

Photo: Vincent Oreje

166 the total

number of SLUMS

in Nairobi 1 newspaper that fully focuses on the slums. Join us call:07 23 997 175 or report anything at the Ghetto Mirrors desk.

to take part in the next edition of cross country event. “During the next cross country which will be in Kibera, I urge all the residents to turn out in large numbers and participate. It will be also a way of doing exercises to keep your body fit at all times,” she said. School heads, teachers and par-ents were also urged to work in unity. They were urged to form peace clubs along other clubs in their respective schools. “In order to promote peace and cohesion, we should start by educating our children in schools because they will be the next adults,” Phil-lip Omondi, the Amani Kibera treasurer said during the event.He also suggested that peace clubs are formed in the schools.The tournament was sponsored by the House of Manji, The

By George Sakwa

Deputy County Commissioner for Lang’ata, Mr. John Elun-gata launched the most awaited for Kibra Sports Extravaganza on May 24 at the DC grounds in Kibera. The sporting activ-ity saw a number of different sporting disciplines performed.The sporting events ended on

May 31 and among the disci-plines of sports were: football, volleyball, tennis, basketball, handball, cricket, boxing and chess among many others. Over 100 teams turned for the tourney notably the junior teams of two football giants in the nation; Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards The epic of the event was

on Saturday with the tourna-ment’s most awaited matches,

boxing match between former Nairobi mayor Mr. Joe Aketch and former Makadara MP Hon. Reuben Ndolo; both are former boxers, another match was be-tween Nairobi County Repre-sentatives and a football match that involved Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards under 19 teams.Local leaders present during the

launch of the tournament were first to realize that not all chil-dren are bright academically and called on parents to help identify their children’s talents. “Many people are well paid and have successful lives because of their talents. Look at the international footballers and the athletes, they are well paid. We should therefore help our children and not only insist on education for them,” said Ochieng Jera the

Kibra sports extravaganzachairman of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Lang’ata.“Education is as well good

for them but for those who have talent in sports should at least acquire just the basic skills which will help them in communication,” he added.There were calls not to dis-

criminate any sports. “We should never discriminate any sporting activity. We should all treat them the same and sup-port our children whenever they show interest in any of them,” Lang’ata sports officer, Mrs. Tausi Mohamed said. “As much as we want our children to succeed academically, we should also help them to suc-ceed in sports,” she added. And talking of an upcoming

event in Kibra she asked residents

By Bonface Nyamu

The origins of chess are not exactly clear, though most believe it evolved from ear-lier chess-like games played in India almost two thou-sand years ago. The game of chess we know today has been around since the 15th century where it be-came popular in Europe. Kenya is one country that has adopted this game of chess in recent time, as many streets in Nairobi have chess clubs which promote and develop chess players especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Some of the well known chess clubs include Eco younger’s in Kibera, Park-lands Challengers amongst other. Develop your skills and passion today by becoming world’s greatest chess player.

By Mirror reporter

Kibra league from 12 - 20 May conducted a free train-ing for coaches participating in the Kibra League for free.The coaching session saw a

number of coaches graduate with CAF level C certificate. Each club participating on the league and that had cleared their participation fee was allowed up to two chances for coaches who were trained for free but any ad-ditional coach by the team had to part away with 1000 shillings None Kibra League teams’

coaches also paid Ksh. 1000 to take part in the training. All the coaches however paid 300 shillings that helped in the pro-cessing of their certificates.

League offers free training for

coaches.

Oldest game yet not well known